The Weekly Negro world., 1887-10-15
RAILROADS..
HOW THEY BUILD CITIES.
East TennesSee--Her Past Clio
ny, and Her Future Great
ness.
Awake, East Tennesseans,a Awake.
The Hour Is Upon You.

N
prospect of being a great railroad
center. Already several lines di-
verge from this city.
Twenty-Five years ago could have
been seen the footprints of the
farmer or the furrow made by the
plow boy. You could have heard
the lowing of the cows, blating OF
the lambs, the rumbling of the old
fashioned covered wagon upon the
public highway. Inventive genius
have long since drawn the curtains
upon these good old days.
How changed the scenes and how
varied the information now. To-
day we hear the steam whistle from
planning mill, saw mill, rolling mill,
iron furnace, marble works, knit
ting factories, grist mills, blast fur
naces, railroad engines, etc. The
old corn and hay fields gave way to
the busy protector and the hour
men of the day. Betsy and the
plow boy fled in "holy terror" from
the noisy hum of industry, and
to-day Knoxville stands out in the
dignity of intellect and magnanimi-
ty. Let us have more railroads,
telegraphs, telephones, mills, foun-
foundries, furnaces, etc.
We venture the assertion that
Knoxville, in five ears,-withS her
population of 100,00O-will always
find a spot for the encouragement
ofthe proceeding industries.
The poor man is as much bene-
fitted by railroads as the wealthy
man. It brings employment to his
door, puts money into his pockets
md Aa,ar-in his =harrel.z It clothes
his children and educates his fami-
ly.
If there are any people on the
green earth that should be aroused
on the subject of railroads it tshould
be the negro. BY the construction
of railroads he has become more
enlightened in 20 years than the
white race did in IS years prior to
it's introduction in these United
States. 1t is a fact that the more
railroads we have the. more intelli-
gent becomes the citizen. It opens
the great avenues of commerce and
enhances the value of real estate.
1t brings the prospective miner and
mechanical genius. 1t brings the
educator and the philanthropist.
The merchant and the inventor find
homes in every locality through
which the railroad passes, and es-
pecially is this true in such localities
as our immediate surroundings.
There is no section of country
anywhere that presents to the capi-
talist, mechanic, miner, and educa.
tor more inviting field for labor
than our own beloved East Tennes-
see. Especially is this true Of
Knox county. The health and
comfort of herscitizenship, the prog
ress of her public enterprises, anC
her vast resources that demand the
attention of the pluck and energy
manifested by men of thought and
action, allbespeak her untold wealth
and supreme happiness.
To the pleasure seeker her pictur
esque landscapes, lofty mountains
beautiful and fertile valleys, hel
crystal-like brooks and meanderine
rivulets, her laundering cataracts
and mineral springs-innumerablt
in number-are as inviting to tht
eye as the romantic Rhine or poetic
Switzerland.
Her church spires point heaven
ward from thousand hills, and hel
school houses iadorn the valleys that
lie slumbering at the feet of the
great Unaka Range. &
Her sons of eminence, though
born and reared among the sever
Tasting hills" are as classical as
the Greek and as thrifty as the Jew
Though reared in solitude-around
fires whose beacon light gave ease
and comfort to the merry family
their wise judgement and patriotic
devotion for their country have
caused them to become the sons Of
proud and prosperous nation.
The Negro, too, though few
years ago lived in state of igno-
rance and degradation, is fastly
becoming identified with the agri-
cultural and mechanical interests